Unhinged by Onley James
The scent of blood hit Noah first, filling his nostrils until it felt like he was choking on a million copper pennies. The carnage came next. His shoes slipped in the pools of blood as he did his best to navigate while his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room. The fallen men were everywhere, still splayed however they’d landed, and in the center of them all was Gary…tied to that same folding chair, screaming and sweaty.
“Did you bring the folding chair?” Noah asked absently.
Avi nodded. “We thought it might help. You know, being your first kill and all, we didn’t want him making a run for it.”
Noah’s brows raised, a warm feeling washing over him. “Thanks, that’s…kind of sweet, actually.”
The boys beamed at him.
Noah pulled his gun free and aimed it at Gary. “Take his gag off.”
The boys looked at each other, then Adam.
“You heard him,” Adam said.
They yanked the gag free, and Gary immediately started to babble. “Please, Noah. Please. Don’t do this. You’re a good boy. Not like us. Not like them.” He looked at the seven men surrounding them. “They’re monsters, but you…you were always a sweet boy. Your father loved you. I loved you.”
Noah listened to it all, surprised at how little he cared about the man pleading for his life.
“I can do this,” Adam said again.
“Give him a minute,” Archer said, surprising Noah.
“Yeah, this wasn’t easy for any of us and we don’t even have the ability to feel bad about what we do,” Aiden said.
Noah found himself getting kind of choked up. These men—these deviant, murderous psychopaths—were his family and they were being weirdly supportive. They thought that he was afraid to kill Gary or was having second thoughts.
“I don’t want to kill him,” Noah said. When Gary’s shoulders sagged with relief, Noah tacked on, “Yet.”
“Well, we don’t have a lot of time.”
Noah aimed at Gary’s left knee cap and pulled the trigger, the man’s screams washing over him. “That’s for everything you fucking monsters did to me.” He took aim at Gary’s right kneecap, firing without hesitation. “That’s for everything you did to the others.” He pointed the gun between Gary’s legs, a grim satisfaction filling him as Gary started to shake his head. But it was too late. Noah fired. “And that’s just because.”
“Not that I don’t appreciate a good performance,” August said, “but can you put the man out of his misery? His screams are annoying and we have to start cleaning up. We don’t have all day.”
Noah raised the gun. “Sure.”
The bullet struck right between Gary’s eyes, leaving only the tiniest of holes. Noah stared at it, ears ringing, watching a tiny line of blood trickle down the man’s nose. Almost immediately, there was a flurry of activity. August snatched the gun from his hand and the boys untied Gary, dumping him among the others.
They didn’t set the fire right away. Atticus forced them all to strip naked and dive in the water to scrub the blood off. Their clothes were collected in garbage bags with new clothing distributed to each of them. Weapons were collected in a metal box to be melted down later, and the bloody clothing would be burned off site where August could be certain it was gone.
Striking the match was the very last thing on their list. Noah stood back, watching as the small flame erupted, chasing the trail of gasoline around the building before catching the wood. The building was almost immediately engulfed in flames. Still, they all stood, watching, until they were certain nothing would keep the fire from doing its job, before going their separate ways.
They were far from the scene when Adam finally looked over at Noah. “You okay?”
Noah shook his head. “My ears are killing me. At the range, they give you ear muffs.” He tugged on his earlobes as if that might help the problem.
“I meant are you okay with what you did? To Gary?”
Noah nodded once more. “Maybe I should feel guilty or, at least, have some kind of regrets. Maybe it will come later, but I honestly just feel…relieved. Like it's all finally over.”
“It is,” Adam assured him before adding, “Well, it will be once Calliope forwards the evidence to the appropriate law enforcement officials.”
Noah yawned. “Can we go home? I want a shower and Thai food. And maybe ice cream.”
Adam nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
They were just pulling into Adam’s parking space when he said, “Did you mean it?”
Noah tried to think back to the million things he could have meant. “Mean what?”
Adam put the car in park and then turned in the seat to look at Noah. “The text message. Did you mean it?”
Noah could feel himself flushing. “Which part?” he hedged.
Adam grinned. “The part where you said you loved me?”
Noah’s gaze dropped to his lap, his heart pounding. He clutched his hands together to stop them from shaking. How was that question more stressful than murder? “I don’t know. Maybe?”
Adam chucked his finger under Noah’s chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. “You maybe love me?”
Noah wanted to say it. He did. He wanted to say he loved Adam, but the words wouldn’t come. So, he just nodded.
Adam’s grin widened. “Well, I maybe love you, too.”
Noah’s chest tightened, his face twisting into a grimace. “Don’t say that. Especially if you don’t mean it.”
Adam frowned. “I do mean it. I mean, I think I do.”
“You think you do?” Noah echoed.
Adam nodded earnestly. “Like, I don’t know what love feels like, but I know that whatever I feel for you, I’ve never felt for another person—ever. So, who’s to say that’s not love?”
“I don’t know,” Noah said. “Maybe it is.”
“So, maybe I love you.”
Noah shook his head, a stupid grin forming on his face as he leaned across the console until they were nose to nose. “Then maybe I love you back.”
